# Voiceless postalveolar fricative

A voiceless postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The International Phonetic Association uses the term voiceless postalveolar fricative only for the sound, but it also describes the voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant fricative [ɹ̠̊˔], for which there are significant perceptual differences.

## Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative

A voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or voiceless domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in many languages, including English. In English, it is usually spelled ⟨sh⟩, as in ship.
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ ʃ ⟩, the letter esh introduced by Isaac Pitman (not to be confused with the integral symbol ⟨∫⟩). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is S.
An alternative symbol is ⟨š⟩, an s with a caron or háček, which is used in the Americanist phonetic notation and the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet, as well as in the scientific and ISO 9 transliterations of Cyrillic. It originated with the Czech orthography of Jan Hus and was adopted in Gaj's Latin alphabet and other Latin alphabets of Slavic languages. It also features in the orthographies of many Baltic, Finno-Samic, North American and African languages.

### Features

Features of the voiceless palato-alveolar fricative:
* Its manner of articulation is sibilant fricative, which means it is generally produced by channeling air flow along a groove in the back of the tongue up to the place of articulation, at which point it is focused against the sharp edge of the nearly clenched teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence.
* Its place of articulation is postalveolar, which means it is articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge.
* Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

### Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Adyghe | Adyghe | шыд | [ʃəd] | 'donkey' | |
| Albanian | Albanian | shtëpi | [ʃtəˈpi] | 'house' | |
| Arabic | Modern Standard | شَمْس | | 'sun' | See Arabic phonology |
| Armenian | Eastern | շուն | | 'dog' | |
| Aromanian | Aromanian | shi | [ʃi] | 'and' | |
| Asturian | Asturian | xera | [ˈʃeɾa] | 'work' | |
| Azerbaijani | Azerbaijani | şeir | [ʃeiɾ] | 'poem' | |
| Assyrian | Assyrian | ܫܒܬܐ šebta | [ʃεbta] | 'saturday' | |
| Bashkir | Bashkir | биш / biş | | 'five' | |
| Basque | Basque | kaixo | [kajʃ̺o] | 'hello' | |
| Breton | Breton | chadenn | [ˈʃadɛ̃n] | 'chain' | |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian | юнашки | [juˈnaʃki] | 'heroically' | See Bulgarian phonology |
| Catalan | Catalan | peix | [ˈpe(j)ʃ] | 'fish' | Its pronunciation varies between an alveolo-palatal [ɕ] and postalveolar [ʃ] fricative. See Catalan phonology. |
| Chechen | Chechen | шура / şura | ['ʃurə] | 'milk' | |
| Chuvash | Chuvash | шурă | ['ʃurə] | 'white' | |
| Czech | Czech | kaše | [ˈkaʃɛ] | 'mash' | See Czech phonology |
| Dutch | Dutch | sjabloon | | 'template' | May be [sʲ] or [ɕ] instead. See Dutch phonology |
| English | English | sheep | | 'sheep' | See English phonology |
| Esperanto | Esperanto | ŝelko | [ˈʃelko] | 'suspenders' | See Esperanto phonology |
| Faroese | Faroese | sjúkrahús | [ʃʉukrahʉus] | 'hospital' | See Faroese phonology |
| French | French | cher | | 'expensive' | See French phonology |
| Finnish | Finnish | šekki | [ʃekːi] | 'check' | See Finnish phonology |
| Galician | Galician | viaxe | [ˈbjaʃe] | 'trip' | See Galician phonology |
| Georgian | Georgian | შარი | [ˈʃɑɾi] | 'quibbling' | |
| German | Standard | schön | [ʃøːn] | 'beautiful' | Laminal or apico-laminal and strongly labialized. See Standard German phonology |
| Greek | Cypriot | ασσιήμια | [ɐˈʃːimɲɐ] | 'ugliness' | Contrasts with /ʃ/ and /ʒː/ |
| Greek | Pontic | ςςον | [ʃo̞n] | 'snow' | |
| Hebrew | Hebrew | שָׁלוֹם | | 'peace' | See Modern Hebrew phonology |
| Hindi | Hindi | शक | [ʃək] | 'doubt' | See Hindustani phonology |
| Hungarian | Hungarian | só | [ʃoː] | 'salt' | See Hungarian phonology |
| Ilocano | Ilocano | siák | [ʃak] | 'I' | |
| Irish | Irish | sí | [ʃiː] | 'she' | See Irish phonology |
| Italian | Marked accents of Emilia-Romagna | sali | [ˈʃäːli] | 'you go up' | Apical non-labialized; may be [s̺ʲ] or [ʂ] instead. It corresponds to [s] in standard Italian. See Italian phonology |
| Italian | Standard | fasce | [ˈfäʃːe] | 'bands' | See Italian phonology |
| Kabardian | Kabardian | шыд | [ʃɛd] | 'donkey' | Contrasts with a labialized form |
| Kabyle | Kabyle | ciwer | [ʃiwər] | 'to consult' | |
| Kashubian | Kashubian | nasz | [naʃ] | 'our' | See Kashubian language |
| Kazakh | Kazakh | шаш / şaş | [ʃаʃ] | 'hair' | |
| Kurdish | Kurdish | şev | [ʃɛv] | 'night' | See Kurdish phonology |
| Latvian | Latvian | šalle | [ˈʃalːe] | 'scarf' | See Latvian phonology |
| Lillooet | Lillooet | stswúw̓ecw | [ˈʃtʃwuˀwəxʷ] | 'creek' | |
| Limburgish | Maastrichtian | sjat | [ʃɑ̽t] | 'darling' | Laminal post-alveolar with an unclear amount of palatalization. |
| Lingala | Lingala | shakú | [ʃakú] | 'grey parrot' | |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian | šarvas | [ˈʃɐrˑvɐs] | 'armor' | See Lithuanian phonology |
| Macedonian | Macedonian | што | [ʃtɔ] | 'what' | See Macedonian phonology |
| Malay | Malay | syarikat | [ʃarikat] | 'company' | |
| Maltese | Maltese | x′jismek? | [ˈʃjɪsmɛk] | 'what is your name?' | |
| Marathi | Marathi | शब्द | [ˈʃəbd̪ə] | 'word' | See Marathi phonology |
| Mayan | Yucatec | ko'ox | [koʔoʃ] | 'let's go' | |
| Mopan | Mopan | kax | [kɑːʃ] | 'chicken' | |
| Mpade | Mpade | sha | [ʃa] | 'cow' | |
| Mutsun | Mutsun | raṭmašte | [ɾɑʈmɑʃtɛ] | 'having acne' | |
| Neapolitan | Neapolitan | scugnizzo | [ʃkuˈɲːitt͡sə] | 'urchin' | |
| Occitan | Auvergnat | maissant | [meˈʃɔ̃] | 'bad' | See Occitan phonology |
| Occitan | Gascon | maishant | [maˈʃan] | | See Occitan phonology |
| Occitan | Limousin | son | [ʃũ] | 'his' | See Occitan phonology |
| Persian | Persian | شاه | [ʃɒːh] | 'king' | See Persian phonology |
| Polish | Gmina Istebna | siano | [ˈʃän̪ɔ] | 'hay' | /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ merge into [ʃ] in these dialects. In standard Polish, /ʃ/ is commonly used to transcribe what actually is a laminal voiceless retroflex sibilant |
| Polish | Lubawa dialect | siano | [ˈʃän̪ɔ] | 'hay' | /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ merge into [ʃ] in these dialects. In standard Polish, /ʃ/ is commonly used to transcribe what actually is a laminal voiceless retroflex sibilant |
| Polish | Malbork dialect | siano | [ˈʃän̪ɔ] | 'hay' | /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ merge into [ʃ] in these dialects. In standard Polish, /ʃ/ is commonly used to transcribe what actually is a laminal voiceless retroflex sibilant |
| Polish | Ostróda dialect | siano | [ˈʃän̪ɔ] | 'hay' | /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ merge into [ʃ] in these dialects. In standard Polish, /ʃ/ is commonly used to transcribe what actually is a laminal voiceless retroflex sibilant |
| Polish | Warmia dialect | siano | [ˈʃän̪ɔ] | 'hay' | /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ merge into [ʃ] in these dialects. In standard Polish, /ʃ/ is commonly used to transcribe what actually is a laminal voiceless retroflex sibilant |
| Portuguese | Portuguese | xamã | [ʃɐˈmɐ̃] | 'shaman' | Also described as alveolo-palatal [ɕ]. See Portuguese phonology |
| Punjabi | Punjabi | ਸ਼ੇਰ | [ʃeːɾ] | 'lion' | |
| Romani | Romani | deš | [deʃ] | 'ten' | |
| Romanian | Romanian | șefi | [ʃefʲ] | 'bosses' | See Romanian phonology |
| Sahaptin | Sahaptin | šíš | [ʃiʃ] | 'mush' | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Scottish Gaelic | seinn | [ʃeiɲ] | 'sing' | See Scottish Gaelic phonology |
| Serbo-Croatian | Serbo-Croatian | škola | [ʃkôːla] | 'school' | See Serbo-Croatian phonology |
| Silesian | Gmina Istebna | | | | These dialects merge /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ into [ʃ] |
| Silesian | Jablunkov | | | | These dialects merge /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ into [ʃ] |
| Slovak | Slovak | škola | [ʃkɔla] | 'school' | See Slovak phonology |
| Slovene | Slovene | šola | [ˈʃóːlà] | 'school' | See Slovene phonology |
| Somali | Somali | shan | [ʃan] | 'five' | See Somali phonology |
| Spanish | New Mexican | echador | | 'boastful' | Corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Northern Mexico | echador | | 'boastful' | Corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Cuban | echador | | 'boastful' | Corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Panamanian | chocolate | [ʃo̞ko̞ˈläte̞] | 'chocolate' | Corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Southern Andalusia | chocolate | [ʃo̞ko̞ˈläte̞] | 'chocolate' | Corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Chilean | chocolate | [ʃo̞ko̞ˈläte̞] | 'chocolate' | Corresponds to [t͡ʃ] in other dialects. See Spanish phonology |
| Spanish | Rioplatense | ayer | [äˈʃe̞ɾ] | 'yesterday' | May be voiced [ʒ] instead. See Spanish phonology and yeísmo |
| Sranantongo | Sranantongo | syène | [ˈʃɛne] | 'blunder, disappointment' | |
| Swahili | Swahili | shule | [ʃule] | 'school' | |
| Swedish | Västerbotten dialect | svår | [ˈʃwoːr] | 'difficult' |
| Tagalog | Tagalog | siya | [ʃa] | 'he/she' | See Tagalog phonology |
| Toda | Toda | [pɔʃ] | [pɔʃ] | 'language' | Contrasts /θ s̪ s̠ ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ/. |
| Tunica | Tunica | šíhkali | [ˈʃihkali] | 'stone' | |
| Turkish | Turkish | güneş | [ɟyˈne̞ʃ] | 'sun' | See Turkish phonology |
| Ukrainian | Ukrainian | шахи | ['ʃɑxɪ] | 'chess' | See Ukrainian phonology |
| Urdu | Urdu | شکریہ | [ʃʊkˈriːaː] | 'thank you' | See Hindustani phonology |
| Uyghur | Uyghur | شەھەر | [ʃæhær] | 'city' | |
| Uzbek | Uzbek | bosh | [bɒʃ] | 'head' | |
| Walloon | Walloon | texhou | [tɛʃu] | 'knit fabric' | |
| Welsh | Standard | siarad | [ˈʃɑːrad] | 'speak' | See Welsh phonology |
| Welsh | Southern dialects | mis | [miːʃ] | 'month' | See Welsh phonology |
| West Frisian | West Frisian | sjippe | [ˈʃɪpə] | 'soap' | See West Frisian phonology |
| Western Lombard | Canzés | fescia | [feʃa] | 'nuisance' | |
| Wu Chinese | Northern Wu (Shengpu locality) | 詩 | [ʃʮ˥] | 'poem' | |
| Yiddish | Yiddish | וויסנשאַפֿטלעכע | [vɪsn̩ʃaftləχə] | 'scientific' | See Yiddish phonology |
| Yorùbá | Yorùbá | ṣí | [ʃi] | 'open' | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | xana | [ʃana] | 'how?' | |
In various languages, including English and French, it may have simultaneous labialization, i.e. [ʃʷ], although this is usually not transcribed.
Classical Latin did not have [ʃ], though it does occur in most Romance languages. For example, ⟨ch⟩ in French chanteur "singer" is pronounced /ʃ/. Chanteur is descended from Latin cantare, where ⟨c⟩ was pronounced /k/. The ⟨sc⟩ in Latin scientia "science" was pronounced /sk/, but has shifted to /ʃ/ in Italian scienza.
Similarly, Proto-Germanic had neither [ʃ] nor [ʂ], yet many of its descendants do. In most cases, this [ʃ] or [ʂ] descends from a Proto-Germanic /sk/. For instance, Proto-Germanic *skipą ("hollow object, water-borne vessel larger than a boat") was pronounced /ˈski.pɑ̃/. The English word "ship" /ʃɪp/ has been pronounced without the /sk/ the longest, the word being descended from Old English "scip" /ʃip/, which already also had the [ʃ], though the Old English spelling etymologically indicated that the old /sk/ had once been present.
This change took longer to catch on in West Germanic languages other than Old English, though it eventually did. The second West Germanic language to undergo this sound shift was Old High German. In fact, it has been argued that Old High German's /sk/ was actually already [s̠k], because a single [s] had already shifted to [s̠]. Furthermore, by Middle High German, that /s̠k/ had shifted to [ʃ]. After High German, the shift most likely then occurred in Low Saxon. After Low Saxon, Middle Dutch began the shift, but it stopped shifting once it reached /sx/, and has kept that pronunciation since. Then, most likely through influence from German and Low Saxon, North Frisian experienced the shift.
Then, Swedish quite swiftly underwent the shift, which resulted in the very uncommon [ɧ] phoneme, which, aside from Swedish, is only used in Colognian, a variety of High German, though not as a replacement for the standard High German /ʃ/ but a coronalized /ç/. However, the exact realization of Swedish /ɧ/ varies considerably among dialects; for instance, in Northern dialects it tends to be realized as [ʂ]. See sj-sound for more details. Finally, the last to undergo the shift was Norwegian, in which the result of the shift was [ʃ].
The sound in Russian denoted by ⟨ш⟩ is commonly transcribed as a palato-alveolar fricative but is actually an apical retroflex fricative.

## Voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant fricative

The voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant fricative is a consonantal sound. As the International Phonetic Alphabet does not have separate symbols for the post-alveolar consonants (the same symbol is used for all coronal places of articulation that are not palatalized), this sound is usually transcribed ⟨ɹ̠̊˔⟩ (retracted constricted voiceless [ɹ]). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\_-_0_r.
Some scholars also posit the voiceless postalveolar approximant distinct from the fricative. The approximant may be represented in the IPA as ⟨ɹ̠̊⟩.

### Features

* Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence. However, it does not have the grooved tongue and directed airflow, or the high frequencies, of a sibilant.
* Its place of articulation is postalveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge.
* Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

### Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Bengali | Some dialects | আবার | [ˈäbäɹ̠̊] | 'again' | Apical; possible allophone of /ɹ/ in the syllable coda. See Bengali phonology |
| English | Received Pronunciation | crew | [kɹ̠̊˔ʊu̯] | 'crew' | Only partially devoiced. It is a realization of /r/ after the word-initial fortis plosives /p, k/, unless they are preceded by /s/ within the same syllable. See English phonology |